One of the UK’s most controversial Southern African organisations espouses the return of white rule to SA. The South African attends a most extraordinary meeting

Two weeks ago, a group of people gathered in the top room of the Antelope pub, just off Sloane Square. They hung a banner on the wall: the old South African flag, bordered by two leaping springboks. And with a bang on the table, member Peter King brought the meeting of The Springbok Club to order.

The club is one of the most controversial organisations in the UK’s South African community. It’s a union of several different outfits, some long-gone, including the Empire Loyalist Club, the White Rhino Club and the Rhodesian Forum. The twenty people gathered here tonight (and there are more visitors than members) are highly opposed to the ANC, and long for the return of what they call â€œcivilised rule” to South Africa.

Or at least, that’s the immediate impression. Speaking to The South African, both King and club organiser Alan Harvey take pains to stress that theirs is not an extremist or racially-motivated organisation. King — a portly, erudite Englishman (and fluent Afrikaans speaker) who spent twenty years in South Africa says: â€œThe club is not a shadowy, secret organisation … it is not a political organisation. It’s a cultural one, a warm, safe spot for those who have lived in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Harvey concurs. He’s the club’s chief mover and shaker, a man who has been directing its activities since it was founded in 1996. He goes to great lengths to advertise the club’s international links. â€œWe have members in Alaska and Ireland, who we have strong links with,” he says, â€œand we’re continually taking on new members.”

One of these members is John Pope, who introduces himself as â€œChairman of the London branch.” He’s never been south of the Sahara before, though he says he’d like to go.

King, Harvey and Pope are cheerful and open, and adamant that anybody can join their club. But there’s no mistaking the racist nature of this gathering. Copies of the SA Patriot-In-Exile newsletter (Tagline: ‘The voice of the white resistance’, editor: A.D. Harvey), are stacked on a nearby table, sharing space with The Twelfth, an Ulster Loyalist publication.

There’s also no mistaking the nature of their speaker tonight. Bert Oosthuizen founded the SouthAfricaSucks blog, which drew heavy criticism for its mix of racist rhetoric and its virulently anti-ANC content. He’s arrived late tonight (he’s based north of London) and struggles to get his Powerpoint presentation to display on the pub’s TV. Launching into his talk regardless, he makes it plain he believes there is what he calls â€œan active campaign to drive whites out of South Africa.” He says that while he was aware that his blog was offensive, he was surprised at the reaction to it, claiming that Google Blogger â€œshut down the blog five times for terms of service violations”.

â€œI’m not ashamed of what my people have achieved, but our cultural symbols are being used as a stick to beat us with,” Oosthuizen continues. He pulls up a graphic on his laptop, a picture of Mandela’s face blended with the skull and crossbones that still adorns his blog, saying: â€œThe legacy of Nelson Mandela is raped babies and three hundred thousand dead.”

The next slide is a Youtube video. â€œThis is Mandela,” he rumbles, â€œSinging about shooting the boers.” Everybody cranes forward to try make out the tiny, grainy video. It’s Madiba surrounded by a crowd. They’re singing something, but the audio is poor, and nobody can quite make out the subtitles. â€œWell, that’s…anyway, I’ll send you all a link,” mumbles Oosthuizen as he cuts the video.

He continues. The World Cup was a series of Potemkin villages. The Rainbow Nation is a fictitious invention. â€œSouth Africa will keep slipping further and further into the abyss,” he says with a flourish, ending his talk.

There is rapturous applause, and Harvey rises to thank his speaker. There are a few admin matters to deal with, including the passing around of a jug for small change to pay for the rental of the bar. â€œAnd there’s a Paypal link for you to donate on our website, too,” says Harvey. He then looks sheepish. â€œWe’ve, ah, received a couple of emails from Paypal asking why it hasn’t been used yet, so perhaps one of you would be kind enough to donate some money? We would really appreciate it.”

Committee member had links to KKKThe South African has learned that a former member of the Springbok Club’s executive committee was a candidate for the right-wing British National Party (BNP) and deputy leader of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Britain.

Bill Binding, who is pictured on the club’s website, died in 2007. Jeevan Vasagar, a Guardian reporter, interviewed Binding in 2001. Binding told Vasagar that he had run for the BNP in Dagenham in 1997, and that he had been a deputy leader of the Klan. An accompanying photograph taken by the newspaper’s David Sillitoe shows the same man as the one depicted on the club’s website.

Club organiser Alan Harvey initially denied that Binding had campaigned for the BNP, saying that this was a different person of the same name. However, he subsequently claimed that this was a story that Binding had told the club himself.

â€œAfter we discovered that there was an attempt to infiltrate the Springbok Club by some members of the neo-fascist BNP, we introduced a ruling that membership of extremist political parties … was incompatible with membership of the Springbok Club,” said Harvey. He said he believes that Binding felt â€œembarrassed” about his BNP connections, and denied that Binding had ever been a Klan member.